


Second child, restless child

by ApatheticRobots



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Introspection, i would die for alphonse, will i ever write something longer than 800 words? who knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 11:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19767049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApatheticRobots/pseuds/ApatheticRobots
Summary: Alphonse has never really been around babies. He's always been the baby.





	Second child, restless child

**Author's Note:**

> this is kinda old but i actually got it beta'd for once! anyways i have feelings about al and children.
> 
> oh fuck i forgot to mention the title is a song by The Oh Hellos, go check it out, is a banger

Alphonse hasn’t ever really been around babies. He’s always _been_ the baby. Their mother didn’t have any kids after him, and Ed and Winry were older, and none of their other family members interacted with them all that much. 

Then the whole mess with the transmutation happened. And he was decidedly not going anywhere _near_ a baby. He could barely open a door without tearing it off its hinges, he wasn’t going to risk handling a whole human. Eventually he did manage to grow used to the strength that came with being a walking hunk of steel. He still didn’t go near babies. He tended to scare them, with the spikes and the glowing eyes.

So when they were down in Rush Valley, and the baby was born, he stuck to what he knew and stayed away. He stepped in to look it over (and the newborn _was_ adorable) then removed himself from the vicinity. 

Ed and Winry had long since excused themselves when he peeked into the room once more to see how the mother and child were doing.

The mother caught sight of him, looking up with a smile. “Alphonse, right? Why don’t you come in?”

“Uh,” he waved his hands, palms out. “No, that’s- that’s alright! I just wanted to make sure you two were doing okay!” Oh dear. 

“Come on, no need to be shy.” 

He glanced back to see if Ed or Winry or even Paninya were there to pipe up, but no such luck. He ducked inside the room and stood a bit awkwardly by the door. 

She gestured him over. He took a few careful steps, stopping beside the bed.

The baby was silent, napping, curled up in his mother’s arms. 

“He’s beautiful,” Alphonse said quietly. 

“Thank you.” The mother smiled, adjusting her hold a bit. “Would you like to hold him?”

He didn’t have any skin to go pale, but the feeling was the same. “No, I- Uh-” He had a better control over his own strength, certainly, but he still wasn’t keen to hold a baby. Especially not one so young. Not even a day old- the risk of him hurting her was too high.

“It’s okay,” said the mother, moving the baby to one hand in order to place the other on his arm. “Have a seat. It’s easier if you’re not standing.”

He pulled the nearby chair over, sitting down. It creaked under his weight.

“Now hold your arms like this,” she adjusted his arms a bit, demonstrating with her own. He copied her. “And make sure you support his head.”

The baby was placed in the crook of his arms.

He was… tiny. So small, Al probably could have carried him in one hand. He didn’t however, do that. He held him with all the care in the world, keeping one hand under his head. He figured the leather would be softer than metal.

“He’s so small,” he murmured, voicing his thoughts as he stared down at the baby. He was still sound asleep, one hand clenched in a fist around the blanket. “..Incredible.”

His world had been, for a long time, full of death. His father (not really _dead_ but _gone._ ) His mother, his own flesh and blood body. His brother’s childlike innocence. Nina, Alexander, Shou Tucker. All the other state alchemists murdered by the Ishvalan. But here, in this little home in the mountains, he could finally experience life.

He looked up, meeting the mother’s eyes. “Thank you.”


End file.
